F-35 FIGHTER READY TO FLY AFTER FINISHING TAXI TESTS.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer PALMDALE -- The F-35 joint strike fighter A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from an attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. , a program involving hundreds of jobs in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley , is nearing a major milestone -- its first flight. The first F-35 fighter is ready to fly after completing a series of taxi tests Tuesday at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. , plant. In the series of tests, which began Dec. 7, chief test pilot Jon Beesley guided the fighter at increasing speeds, with the last test hitting 127 mph. Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. officials said the aircraft performed the tests successfully and as predicted. While the F-35 is assembled by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, major components of the airplanes are assembled by Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. in Palmdale, and parts are fabricated at Lockheed Martin's Palmdale plant. Northrop Grumman's Palmdale plant is expected to employ several hundred workers over the course of the airplane's production run. In addition to the manufacturing jobs, approximately 1,000 workers will be involved in the flight-test program at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . In a speech last month, Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke said the F-35 is ``one of the biggest programs to come to Edwards in a long, long time.'' The jet will be built in a conventional version for the Air Force, as well as in a version equipped to land on Navy carriers and one for the Marine Corps that will take off on shortened runways and land vertically. Lockheed Martin and its partners are building 15 flight-test aircraft, as well as seven airframes for structural tests and a full-size model for radar tests of the jet's stealthiness stealth·y adj. stealth·i·er, stealth·i·est Marked by or acting with quiet, caution, and secrecy intended to avoid notice. See Synonyms at secret. , under a $25.7billion development contract awarded in 2001. The first jet and five flight-test aircraft built in the conventional takeoff-and-landing versions will come to Edwards. The other nine flight-test aircraft will be carrier and short-takeoff versions that will be tested by the Navy and the Marine Corps in Maryland. The F-35 is intended to replace a number of fighter jets and attack aircraft, including the Air Force's A-10s and F-16s, the Navy's F/A-18s, the Marine Corps' AV-8B Harriers, and the United Kingdom's Harrier aircraft. The F-35 is being developed by an international contractor-government partnership consisting of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway. james.skeen@dailynews (661) 267-5743 |
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